The bike quandary - part 2 ​

the bike quandary - part 2

Blogger - Johnny Bang​The head says: ‘use a postie, it’s the logical choice’. The heart says: ‘nar get something that can pop a wheelie’.

-Johnny Bang from the Bike Quandary Part I

There have been two major developments since the Bike Quandary Part I. Firstly, there is a technique to getting a stock postie on the back wheel – it involves a 25degree incline and some practice (or Dan’s 160cc 14 horsepower engine transplant – but that’s another story).

Secondly, we are now riding 250cc bikes - we all sat down over a beer and decided that despite all being romantically attached to the posties; the reality of the trip is that work and family commitments mean that there is a deadline (I hate that word). The postie was always going to struggle on those days where we had to rush to a border, or a boat, or bank bulk km. Thus with heavy hearts but high optimism we proceed to part II…

I paid $3,300 for a registered 2009 Yamaha TTR 250R from a Brazilian dude that had to leave the country at short notice. It only has 4,200kms but it has had a hard life, it has been flipped and has battle scars everywhere. It has warped rotors, the hangars are out and the plastics are rough. Luckily it sounds good mechanically and my plan is to make it look like a dirty rat-bike anyway.

This adventure rat bike represents my design direction - Who is going to mug a guy riding this? I would be more worried he is going to mug me!

Modifications are going to be paint, some soft paniers, and generally any low budget adventure modification I can think of - like in﻿HIMALAYAN HEROwhere Adam Reimann makes hand protectors from plastic milk bottles or this fine example of an ingenious (and cheap) bash plate made from a wall mart cutting board.

Otherwise I will be checking every serviceable part on the bike before I leave (I would rather do that now than on the side of the road on a rainy night in Myanmar). Did I mention we are going through Asia in monsoon season? That’s going to be another story too, I’m sure.

Anyway, Dan spent a bit more and got a near new Yamaha WR250R. Shaun spent about the same as me and got a Kawasaki Super Sherpa (in immaculate condition). Shaun was excited to tell me he had named his Sherpa Tenzing Norgay after the famous Nepalese Indian Sherpa mountaineer. Shaun explained they had a lot in common as they both carried westerners a long distance with little share of the glory… or something like that – I kind of trailed off thinking how girlie it was to name your motorbike (and tell someone). I hope he doesn’t read this.

We figure it’s not going to matter that we are on different bikes because our bikes are close enough that most consumables will interchange (tyres, tubes, levers etc.), and going with the 250cc’s is what we saw as the best compromise of practicality and serviceability vs lightness for the purpose of our trip.

Now for me it’s just a matter of convincing the other two to give their bikes (which look much nicer than mine) a make-under. Otherwise we are going to look like a homeless guy and two power rangers rolling through the desert…